Crystal Lake South 47, Prairie Ridge 45

Crystal Lake South coach Dan DeBruycker realized Prairie Ridge wouldn't be a typical team sporting a lethargic 6-22 record.

The fifth-seeded Wolves entered the Class 4A Crystal Lake South regional with 3 wins in their last 4 regular season outings. Included in the 3 wins, was a triumph over Fox Valley Conference Fox Division champion Grayslake Central.

PR, which led by as many as 9 in the first half, gave a valiant effort but the fourth-seeded Gators prevailed 47-45 in a first round game of the Class 4A Crystal Lake South regional held at Gator Alley Monday night.

"We knew Prairie Ridge would come in here ready to play," said DeBruycker. "They have played some great basketball at the end of the season. You can throw the records out the window when you have two teams competing from the same city. We attacked their matchup zone better in the second half and got some easy baskets. We had a different defensive rotation in the second half and we were more aggressive defensively in the second half."

The Gators (15-13) advance to play top seed Jacobs (24-2) in semifinal action tonight at 7:30 p.m

The Wolves looked to be in control of the game when Bryan Bradshaw nailed a 12-footer with 1:33 left in the second quarter to give PR a 9-point 27-18 advantage.

South's Eric Wilde nailed a 3-pointer with 33 seconds before intermission to cut the PR lead to 27-21 after 16 minutes.

Bradshaw made 6-of-7 shots and scored 14 of the Wolves' 16 points in the second quarter.

The Gators whittled away at the Prairie Ridge advantage and finally took the lead for good, 41-39, on a layup by Mike Brockway with 3:19 left.

South led 47-41 after 2 free throws by Wilde with 36 seconds remaining. Those would be the last points the Gators would score.

PR refused to give up.

Bryan McGinn's conventional 3 with 33 seconds left made the score 47-44. McGinn hit 1-of-2 free throws with 5.6 seconds left to make the score 47-45.

After intentionally missing the second free throw, the ball was tipped out to Jeff Simak who missed a 3 and the Gators narrowly escaped with a 2-point win.

Wilde was the lone Gator in double digits with 17.

"We played with more intensity in the second half and attacked their zone better," said Wilde. "I got on a good roll tonight. PR has been playing well lately and they gave us a tough game tonight."

Mike Ungari paced Prairie Ridge with 15 points. Bradshaw scored 14, all in the second half.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win," said PR coach Corky Card. "That's all you can ask. We didn't lose the game. We just ran out of time. With the type of season, we were having a lot of kids would have tanked the rest of the year. These kids kept going and finished strong."